In April of 2019, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. got dressed in a Triple-A ballpark and tried to answer the question that would determine the immediate future of the Toronto Blue Jays: Was he ready for the big leagues?

“I couldn’t tell you because I’m not there yet, so I wouldn’t know,” Guerrero said. “But I’d want to tell you that I am ready.”

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He was. Two weeks later, he arrived, 20 years old and still not fully formed as a big league hitter, but already an unmistakable linchpin for whatever would come next. The Blue Jays would build around him and see where this kid called Vladdy could take them.

He’s now taken them to the World Series.

After winning Game 7 of the American League Championship Series on Monday night, the Blue Jays are back in the World Series for the first time since Joe Carter’s walk-off home run in 1993. Guerrero is now 26 and the centerpiece of the franchise.

A decade ago, when a different generation of Blue Jays players tried to win a championship, the pennant always eluded them. They twice came close but fell short each time. Building a roster that could finally do it — that could reach the World Series for the first time in more than 30 years — took more than a decade. And it started with the kid at first base.

Step 1 — Find the face of the franchise

Signed 1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in July of 2015

The top international amateurs sign as teenagers. Some are future stars. Many are total busts. In 2015, the Blue Jays went all-in on the 16-year-old son of a Hall of Famer, giving Vladimir Guerrero Jr. $3.9 million — more than they were technically allowed to spend — to sign out of the Dominican Republic. They traded two prospects to the Dodgers for extra international pool money to help offset the cost.

That 2015 international class was correctly identified as an elite collection of talent, but of the 13 players who rece